quite a few questions

i'm new here and have alot of questions regarding windowsXPpro i am putting them all in one post, saves time making loads of different threads..

well firstly when trying to update my computer, but windows update says there are no updates available, when clearly their is! so i attempted downloading the sp1express_en version of the update and it claims i have piracy software. is there a way around this?

i'm aware xp reserves quite a bit of bandwidth? how do i remove this, and what type of increase in speed will i see? ...if any.

my xp takes ages to boot and seems to take longer everyday, why is this, how can it be resolved?

xp crashes alot, in games and out of games, whats the steps to make it more stable?

how customizable is XP, i no u can apply windows blinds, but thats not what i want! is it possible to jus change the colour of the start bar and task bar/windows ect?

i find that XP takes alot of space, and aint aware what on? i have removed alot of games and added up all the space used in windows/program files, and other folders, i currently have 2GB out of 40, and theres noway i have used all that yet?

well...i basically want to customize and treak my computer to make it alround faster and stable, and fix some of the problems i am having, any help/links/files/tutorials, anything u can offer is greatly appreciated.

1st question: get yourself a legit copy
2nd question: dunno
3th question: have a look at msconfig and see what is loading and what can be removed
4th question: need to know the exact errors and which games...
5th question: very customizable, have a look at www.tgtsoft.com
6th question: just face it XP take more memory than 98. 2 gb for windows XP is very normal, mostly drivers and other stuff windows needs.

Traffic flow can be managed very well in Windows XP using the Quality of Service (QoS) Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP). However, programs must be designed to take advantage of this QoS API. The traffic from programs that are not QoS-aware are sent directly to a different API called TCI. These programs have to fight for bandwidth because unlike the QoS API, there is no bandwidth reservation. If you use a lot of QoS-aware programs and would like to change the percent of the bandwidth that is reserved for the program, read below.
Make sure your logged on as Administrator. Do not log on with any account that just has administrator privileges.
To log in as Administrator:
- Click on start->logoff->logoff
- At the logon screen hold Ctrl+Alt+Del.
- In the user field type 'Administrator'
- In the password field type the password for the administrator (if you don't have one leave blank) and press OK
Click on the Start button and select run.
Type gpedit.msc in the text box and click OK
Once the program loads, expand the Computer configuration branch.
Expand the Administrative templates branch.
Expand the Network branch.
Highlight the QoS Packet Scheduler in left window.
In right window double click the limit reservable bandwidth setting
On setting tab check the enabled option.
Where it says Bandwidth limit %, change it to read what ever percent you want to reserve for QoS-aware applications.
Click OK and exit the group policy editor.
Go to your Network connections (start->my computer->my network connection-> view network connections).
Right click on your connection, choose properties then under the General or the Networking tab (where it lists your protocols) make sure QoS packet scheduler is enabled.
Now just reboot your computer and you are all done.
When a QoS-aware program is in use it will reserve the allocated amount of bandwidth and that will take away form other non QoS-aware programs. However, once the QoS-aware application is closed or closes the network connection, the bandwidth reservation is released. This is done by a series of PATH and RESV refresh messages sent back and fourth over the connection. Once these messages are no longer detected, the data flow is closed and the reservation of bandwidth is eliminated.

1) Did you restart?;
2) You can't take further than your ISP allows you to.
3) Some websites can't offer you the full bandwidth, due to traffic etc. I think you can better try to download something from Microsoft (or any other company which has huge bandwidth available) and see if you are at the max. (see 2))